Knit wear neck part knitting method and knit wear

ABSTRACT

A knitwear ( 1 ) is knitted from its bottom hem to its shoulder, during which a flechage knitting that a body ( 2 ) is knitted so as to be forked into a right side and a left side of a neckline ( 10 ) and also the stitches around the neckline are sequentially removed from the knitting to be put into inoperative states is repeated a predetermined number of times, so as to form the neckline ( 10 ). Then, the knitting that stitches of the neckline ( 10 ) at right and left sides thereof including its oblique portions and its flat portions adjacent to the oblique portions are moved toward a center of the neckline, so that empty needles are provided in the oblique portions and also double stitches are formed in the flat portions. Then, the knitting that new stitches are formed at the empty needles in the next knitting of the collar ( 8 ) and also stitches of the next course are formed at the double stitches is provided for each of the right side of the neckline and the left side of the neckline ( 10 ), to thereby produce the collar ( 8 ) comfortable to wear and stylish having the drop having a sufficient length.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a knitting method for forming aneckline in knitwear, such as a vest and a sweater, knitted by using aflat knitting machine and to the knitwear knitted in the same knittingmethod.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] In a conventional knitting method, when e.g. a vest is knitted byusing a flat knitting machine, a neckline formed in the front body and aneckline in the back body are formed with the same number of needles.The neckline usually has an eguri called “a drop” which is formed inaccordance with the shape of the neckline in wearing condition. Theeguri formed in the front body is called “the front drop”. Generally,the front drop is formed in such a process that when the front body isknitted, right and left sides of the neckline are knitted in theflechage knitting so as to form the eguri before forming a collar,followed by the forming of the collar. In this general process, theknitting width of the collar (number of wale) is not different thanbefore forming the neckline in the flechage knitting and, as a result ofthis, the collar comes to be tight and accordingly the front drop doesnot have a sufficient depth.

[0003] The applicant of this application previously proposed in JapaneseLaid-open (Unexamined) Patent Publication No. Hei 4(1992)-214448 aknitting method of knitting a knitted fabric by using a flat knittingmachine wherein the neckline in the front body is widened and also thefront drop is formed in the neckline. In this knitting method, the frontbody is so knitted as to be forked from a starting point for theneckline to be formed into a right front body and a left front bodywhich confront each other across the neckline. In the process of theknitting, widening stitches are formed around the neckline and also thestitches at the right-hand side and left-hand side are shifted to theoutside, respectively. This knitting process is repeated to knit thefront body up to the shoulder portion. As a result of the neckline beingformed in this manner, the number of wale of the neckline is increasedand, as a result of this, not only the collar knitted subsequent theretois widened but also the front drop is formed in the neckline. When thefront body thus knitted is used to produce a sweater, the knitwear comesto be fancy and stylish and so comfortable to wear that when wearing,one's head can smoothly pass through the neckline.

[0004] Shown in FIG. 12 is the front body 101 forming therein the collar100 comprising a flat portion X-Y and oblique portions W-X and Y-Z atboth sides of the flat portion. The flat portion X-Y of the front collar100 has the relationship of T1=T2 between the peripheral length (T2) ofthe flat portion X-Y and the number of wale (T1) of the flat portionX-Y. This indicates that the number of wale in the flat portion X-Y iswell reserved for the peripheral length (T2) of the collar formed. Onthe other hand, the oblique portions W-X and Y-Z have the relationshipof S1<S2, U1<U2 between the peripheral length (S2, U2) and the number ofwale (S1, U1) of the oblique portions W-X and Y-Z, respectively. Thisindicates that the number of wale in the oblique portions W-X and Y-Zare not well reserved for the peripheral lengths of the collar formed.When the oblique portions W-X and Y-Z are short of the number of walelike this, the flat portion X-Y is transversely stretched out and raisedup by the oblique portions W-X and Y-Z, so that the front drop is not soformed as to have a sufficient depth. As a result of this, theperipheral length of the actually knitted collar becomes S1+T1+U1shorter than an anticipated peripheral length S2+T2+U2, so that a collaropening is not so formed as to have a sufficient diameter.

[0005] In the light of the drawback mentioned above, the presentinvention has been made. The present invention aims to disclose aknitting method of knitting knitwear having a drop formed to have asufficient depth that is comfortable to wear and stylish, and knitwearhaving such a collar formed therein.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0006] In order to accomplish the object mentioned above, the presentinvention provides a method of knitting a neck portion of knitwearcomprising a front body, a back body and a collar of the front bodyand/or a collar the back body by using a flat knitting machinecomprising at least a pair of front and back needle beds, at leasteither of which can be racked laterally to transfer stitches between theneedles beds, wherein the knitwear is knitted from its bottom hem to itsshoulder, during which a flechage knitting that the body is knitted soas to be forked into a right side and a left side from a starting pointfor the neckline to be formed and also the stitches around the necklineare sequentially removed from the knitting to be put into inoperativestates is repeated a predetermined number of times, so as to form theneckline, followed by the forming of the collar around the neckline, themethod comprising the step that the knitting that stitches of theneckline at right and left sides thereof including its oblique portionsand its flat portions adjacent to the oblique portions are moved towarda center of the neckline, so that empty needles are provided in theoblique portions and also double stitches are formed in the flatportions and, thereafter, new stitches are formed at the empty needlesin the next knitting of the collar and also stitches of the next courseare formed at the double stitches is provided in each of the right sideof the neckline and the left side of the neckline.

[0007] In the method of knitting the neck portion of knitwear, theknitwear knitted is a fabric whose front body and back body are knittedin layers in front and back into a tubular form and wherein the knittingthat after the front body and the back body are joined together at theshoulder, the empty needles are provided in the oblique portions of theneckline and also the double stitches are formed in the flat portionsand then the new stitches are formed at the empty needles in the nextknitting of the collar and also the stitches of the next course areformed at the double stitches is provided in the neckline.

[0008] Further, in the method of knitting the neck portion of knitwear,it is preferable that while the stitches of the neckline retained on oneof the needle beds are sequentially fed from the one located outside toan outside of the neckline retained on the opposite needle bed, theempty needles are provided therein to increase the number of wale of theneckline.

[0009] Also, the present invention provides knitwear, such as a vest ora sweater, wherein a neckline is so knitted as to be forked into a rightside and a left side from a starting point for the neckline to be formedin the knitwear; a group of stitches in two adjacent regions at aboundary between a collar and the neckline are moved toward a center ofthe neckline to be close to each other; and the collar is formedcontinuously to new stitches formed in the space produced by themovement of the group of stitches and double stitches produced by themovement of the group of stitches.

[0010] According to the present invention, when a knitwear, such as avest and a sweater, is knitted, a flechage knitting that for example thefront body is knitted so as to be forked into a right front body and aleft front body from a starting point for the neckline to be formed andalso the stitches around the neckline are put into inoperative statesfrom a center portion thereof to the outside, with the stitches retainedby the needles, is repeated. As a result of this knitting, an increasednumber of courses are provided at the outside of the neckline, ascompared with the number of knitting courses at the center portion ofthe neckline, and as a result of this, the neckline is formed into sucha circular shape having a long depth at a center portion thereof and ashort width at an outside thereof and also the right front body and theleft front body are formed.

[0011] Sequentially, in order to supplement the number of wale to theperipheral length of the neckline, the following steps are taken. Agroup of stitches in the oblique portions and the flat portions aretransferred to the opposed needle bed. Then, while the needle bed isracked toward the center of the neckline, the stitches as weretransferred to the opposed needle bed are transferred back to theoriginal needle bed. At this time, each time the racking pitch isincreased in one pitch, two pitches, . . . , an adequate number ofstitches are transferred back to the original needle bed. As a result ofthe stitches being transferred back to the original needle bed, whilethe needle bed is racked toward the center of the neckline, the emptyneedles are provided in the oblique portions of the neckline requiringthe supplement of the number of wale and also the double stitches areformed by the stitches in the flat portions adjacent to the obliqueportions being laid over each other.

[0012] Sequentially, the same knitting is symmetrically provided in theopposite side to said side across the center of the neckline, wherebythe double stitches and the empty needles are provided in the samemanner. As a result of this, the new stitches are formed at the emptyneedles provided in the oblique portions and thus the number of wale ofthe oblique portions is increased and also the stitches of the nextcourse are formed at the double stitches in the flat portion and thusthe number of wale of the flat portion is decreased. Thereafter, theyarn is fed to all regions of the neckline to form the collar.

[0013] It should be noted that when the fabric to be knitted is thefabric whose front body and back body are overlapped in layers in frontand back and formed into a tubular form, the back body is knitted inparallel with the knitting of the front body and is joined to sleeves atits joining portion to the sleeves whenever the back body is knitted inthe same manner as in the front body. After completion of the joining ofthe sleeves and the bodies, the front body and the back body are joinedtogether at the shoulder. When the total number of wale of the necklinebecomes shorter for the peripheral length of the neckline formed, forexample the knitting to provide an increased number of wale of the frontneckline is performed so that the stitches at the right side and leftside of the neckline are shifted from inside to outside, with thegradually increasing distances of a stitch of distance, two stitches ofdistance, . . . from their respective preexistent positions, so as toinsert the empty needles in between the adjacent stitches. When theempty needles are inserted in between the adjacent stitches, thestitches at each end of the front neckline should be fed to the outsideof the stitch at each end of the back neckline formed in the back body,to feed the stitches between the first needle bed and the second needlebed, so as to prevent the difference between the number of stitches ofthe neckline retained by the needles of the first needle bed and thenumber of stitches of the neckline retained by the needles of the secondneedle bed from increasing two or more. As a result of the empty needlesbeing inserted in between the adjacent stitches to increase the totalnumber of wale of the neckline, for supplement, there is provided theresult that the neckline having a large peripheral length can be knittedto ensure the formation of the front drop having a sufficient length.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014]FIG. 1 shows a sweater having a collar knitted in the method ofthe present invention;

[0015]FIG. 2 is a development (pattern paper) of the sweater of FIG. 1;

[0016]FIG. 3 shows the steps of the knitting of the sweater; FIG. 4-a isan enlarged view of the collar of the sweater;

[0017]FIG. 4-b shows variation in peripheral length of a front collarand a back collar;

[0018]FIG. 5 is a knitting course diagram illustrating the knitting toextend the peripheral length of the front neckline;

[0019]FIG. 6 is a knitting course diagram illustrating the knitting toextend the peripheral length of the front neckline;

[0020]FIG. 7 is a knitting course diagram illustrating the knitting toextend the peripheral length of the front neckline;

[0021]FIG. 8 is a knitting course diagram illustrating the knitting tochange the ratio of the number of wale of the front neckline;

[0022]FIG. 9 is a knitting course diagram illustrating the knitting tochange the ratio of the number of wale of the front neckline;

[0023]FIG. 10 is a knitting course diagram illustrating the knitting tochange the ratio of the number of wale of the front neckline;

[0024]FIG. 11 is a knitting course diagram illustrating the knitting tochange the ratio of the number of wale of the front neckline; and

[0025]FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the relation between the peripherallength and the number of wale of the neckline formed in the conventionalknitting method.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0026] In the following, a certain preferred embodiment of the presentinvention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.In the embodiment, a flat knitting machine is used which comprises afront bed (FB) and a back bed (BB), each having thereon a number ofslide needles arranged in line and confronting each other in front andback, with the back bed being capable of being racked laterally, and atransfer jack bed (hereinafter it is referred to as “the TR jack bed”)positioned over the front bed and having thereon a number of transferjacks (hereinafter they are referred to as “the TR jacks”) arranged inline at the same pitch as the needle pitch of the needle bed andprovided so as to be racked laterally with respect to the needle bed sothat stitches can be transferred therebetween, though not shown. In theembodiment, the flat knitting machine that can provide the specificknitting using a stitch holding technique which is called “the holdingtechnique” disclosed by Japanese Laid-open (Unexamined) PatentPublication No. Hei 11(1999)-43849 can be used. The terminology,“holding”, means the stitch holding technique using a compound needle,which is called “slide needle”, comprising a needle body and a sliderwhich is formed by combining two thin metal sheets and has a tongue at afront end portion thereof. In the holding technique, the stitch as wasretained in the hook of the needle body is held by the needle and alsoan additional stitch is received and held on the tongue of the slider,so that those two different stitches are separately held by the sameneedle. Reference is made to the publication mentioned above for furtherdetails of “the holding”. This holding technique enables the needle fromwhich the stitch is transferred to be used as the empty needletemporarily. When this holding technique is used to transfer the heldstitches back to the original empty needles after the knitting isadequately performed, even a two-bed, flat knitting machine can knit theknitwear seamlessly, without any limitation of using alternate needlesfor the transfer of stitches. The method of the embodiment can beapplied to the knitting in which two fabrics knitted in layers in frontand back are knitted into a tubular fabric as well as to the knitting inwhich only the front body is knitted as a part of the knitted fabric. Inthe following, illustration is given on the knitting provided in theprocess of knitting the tubular fabric into which the front and backbodies are continuously joined at each end thereof.

[0027]FIG. 1 shows a sweater 1 knitted as knitwear in the embodiment.The sweater 1 has set-in sleeves and a rounded-neck having a U-shapedcollar. For convenience of explanation, the sweater is designed in theform of a plain knit, though it may have another structure pattern suchas jacquard or rib. FIG. 2 shows a pattern paper (stitch alignment) ofbodies and sleeves of the sweater. Illustrated above is the pattern of aback body, right and left back sleeves, and a back collar 8 b, whichwill appear at the back side when wearing the sweater. These parts areknitted with needles on the back bed. Illustrated below is the patternof a front body, right and left front sleeves, and a front collar, whichwill appear at the front side when wearing the sweater. These parts areknitted with needles on the front bed, except a part of an outsideportion of the front collar, as mentioned later. In the sweater 1, thefront body 2 a and the front sleeves 4 a, 14 a are joined at theunderarms A, a and P, p of the front body and the front sleeves, and theback body 2 b and the back sleeves 4 b, 14 b are joined at the underarmsH, h and S, s of the back body and the back sleeves. The line A-B of thefront body 2 a and the line P-Q of the sleeve 4 a are joined together,and the line a-b of the front body 2 a and the line p-q of the sleeve 14a are joined together. Likewise, the line H-I of the back body 2 b andthe line S-T of the sleeve 4 b are joined together, and the line h-i ofthe back body 2 b and the line s-t of the sleeve 14 b are joinedtogether. The front body 2 a is different from the back body 2 b in theshape subsequent to the points F, f of the neckline 10 a and is knittedso as to be forked into the right front body 15 a and the left frontbody 5 b. It is to be noted that the terms “right” and “left” appearingin the members, such as the right front body 15 a and the right sleeve14, is intended to mean the right-hand part and the left-hand part whenviewing from a wearer who wears the sweater. 8 a designates a frontcollar having a width larger than the back collar 8 b. The lineC-D-Ee-d-c represents a neckline 10 a of the front body 2 a along whichthe front collar 8 a is formed. The line J-j represents a back neckline10 b along which the back collar 8 b is formed.

[0028]FIG. 3 shows an outline of the knitting of the sweater in therespective steps. In the step L, the knitting of the body 2 and thesleeves 4, 14 is started at tubular ribs 6, 7 and 17 by using yarnfeeders (not shown) which are prepared for the body 2 and the sleeves 4,14, respectively. Subsequently, each of the body 2 and the sleeves 4, 14is knitted in the form of a tubular fabric until the step M. In thesteps M to N, while the front body 2 a, the back body 2 b, the leftsleeve 4 and the right sleeve 14 are knitted in the form of a singletubular body, they are joined together in each knitting. From the stepN, an additional knitting is started wherein the front body 2 isseparated into a left front body 5 a and a right front body 15 a, in theprocess of which a front neckline 10 a is formed via the flechageknitting for knitting the left front body 5 a and the right front body15 a and simultaneously the body and the sleeves are joined togetheralong the lines A-B and P-Q, and a-b and p-q. This knitting goes on tothe shoulder. During this knitting, the flechage knitting that thestitches around the margin of the neckline 10 a extending along the lineC-D-E-e-d-b are sequentially put into inoperative states is repeatedlyperformed, so as to form a circular cut. Sequentially, the line B-C ofthe front body 2 a and the line I-J of the back body 2 b and the lineb-c of the front body 2 a and the line i-j of the back body 2 b arejoined together at the shoulder portion, followed by binding off thestitches by known means to prevent the stitches from loosening.

[0029] Before entering into a detailed description of the actualknitting, the outline of the knitting will be explained with referenceto FIG. 4. FIG. 4-a is an enlarged view of the collar of the sweater 1and FIG. 4-b is schematic illustration of the variation in peripherallength of the front neckline 10 a with respect to the back neckline 10b. The collar 8 has a front collar 8 a formed around the front neckline10 a and a back collar 8 b formed in the back neckline 10 b of the backbody 2 b. The front neckline 10 a comprises oblique portions of C-D-Eand c-d-e extending obliquely and a flat portion of E-a. The right andleft oblique portions each comprise an upper oblique portion C-D, c-dand a lower oblique portion D-E, d-e. The back neckline 10 b isrepresented by (1) of FIG. 4-b, and the front neckline 10 a isrepresented by (2) of the same drawing figure. The back neckline isequal in number of wale to the front neckline ((1)=(2)). In this state,the widening stitch knitting is provided in the upper oblique portionsC-D, c-d, to increase the number of wale therein, so as to produce thestate (3). As a result of this widening stitch knitting, the frontneckline 10 a becomes larger in peripheral length than the back neckline10 b. Then, after the stitches of the lower oblique portions D-E, d-eare moved toward a center line X-X, empty needles are inserted in thelower oblique portions, so as to allow adjacent stitches in the flatportion to be overlapped with each other. As a result of this knitting,the number of wale in the lower oblique portions D-E, d-e is increased,while on the other hand, the number of wale in the flat portion E-e isdecreased, so as to produce the state (4). In this state, the peripherallength itself of the neckline is not varied from the state (3), but onlythe number of wale ratio between the lower oblique portions D-E, d-e andthe flat portion E-e is varied.

[0030] Now, the widening stitch knitting to provide an increased numberof wale in the upper oblique portions C-D, c-d of the neckline 10, so asto change from the state (2) to the state (3) of FIG. 4-b will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 5-7. The step 1 of FIG. 5 shows thestate of the stitches being retained on the needle beds, which ispresented when the knitting to join the sleeves and the bodies, exceptthe neckline 10, is ended at the shoulder. The stitches of the frontneckline 10 a lying on the line C-D-E-e-d-c of the front body 2 a areretained on the needles D-W of the front bed, and the stitches of theback neckline 10 b lying on the line J-j of the back body 2 b areretained on the needles D-W of the back needle bed. Bold circles in thediagrams represent the stitches of the front body 2 a. The knittingneedles A-M indicate the stitches on the left side of the center lineX-X, and the knitting needles N-Z indicate the stitches on the rightside of the center line X-X. In the actual knitting, the knitting isperformed with a number of needles interposed between the needle M andthe needle N. In the illustrated embodiment, four-wale increase inknitting width in each of the upper oblique portions C-D, c-d of thefront neckline 10 a is taken as an example.

[0031] The knitting for widening the neckline 10 is made by transferenceof the stitches of the front neckline 10 a. During this knitting, thestitches of the back neckline 10 b are held without transference. Thesteps 2-8 show the process of widening the left part of the neckline 10a, and the steps 9-15 show the process of widening the right part of theneckline 10 a. The position where the back needle bed and the TR jackbed are in the positional relationship shown in the step 1 is taken as astarting point for the racking of the same beds. First, in the step 2,after the back bed is racked leftwards a stitch (1P), the stitch 39retained on the needle D of the front bed is held on a tongue of aslider of a needle K of the back bed, the stitch 31 at the left end ofthe front neckline 10 a retained by the needle D is transferred to theback needle bed.

[0032] In the next step 3, the stitches 32-38 retained on the needlesE-K of the front bed are transferred to the TR jacks E-K. In the step 4,after the TR jack bed is racked leftwards two stitches (2P), the stitch38 retained on the TR jack is transferred to the needle I of the frontbed and also the stitch 39 held on the needle K of the back bed in theprevious step 2 is transferred to the needle K of the front needle bed.In place of the holding technique used in the process previouslymentioned, the transference of the stitch 39 may be afforded via the useof the TR jack.

[0033] In the step 5, after the TR jack bed is further racked leftwardsone stitch of distance from the previous step 4, the stitch 37 retainedon the TR jack I is transferred to the needle G of the front bed. In thestep 6, after the TR jack bed is further racked leftwards one stitch ofdistance, the stitches 32-36 retained on the TR jacks E-I aretransferred to the needles A-E of the front bed.

[0034] In the next step 7, after the back bed is racked leftwards onestitch of distance, the stitch 32 as was transferred to the needle A, ofthe front bed is transferred to the needle B of the back bed. The step 8shows the state of the stitches of the neckline 10 a being retained onthe needle beds, which is presented when the back bed is returned to itsstarting racking point after the process of widening the left side ofthe neckline 10 a is completed. The two stitches 31, 32 at the left endportion of the front neckline 10 a are sequentially fed to the back bedfrom the stitch 31 situated at the end of the front neckline, so as tobe situated next to the stitch at the side end of the back neckline 10b. The stitches 33-39 to be shifted at the left side of the frontneckline 10 a are shifted leftwards from inside to outside, with thegradually increasing distances of a stitch of distance, two stitches ofdistance, three stitches of distance and four stitches of distance fromtheir respective preexistent positions. As a result of this, the fourempty needles F, H, J and L are put into the state of being formed inthe knitted fabric.

[0035] In the illustrated embodiment, the empty needles are inserted inbetween the stitches 36, 37, 38, 39, one in each space defined by theadjacent stitches. In the case where the neckline has a large number ofstitches, the stitches may be shifted a stitch of distance, two stitchesof distance, three stitches of distance and four stitches of distanceevery three stitches, for example, so that the empty needles may beinserted in the spaces thus formed, one in each of the spaces defined bythose stitches. The empty needles required for the wale to be increasedare inserted in between the stitches and the stitches required to beshifted are split from each other, to prevent the empty needles frombeing formed in a row. This enables the widening stitches to be smoothlyformed in the later process. If the neckline does not have so manystitches to be split, then the empty needles may be formed in a row. Inthe illustrated embodiment, four wale are increased in each side of thefront neckline from the center line X-X and then the stitches 31, 32 atthe side end portion are fed to the back bed, to divide the differencein peripheral length between the front neckline and the back neckline,so as to prevent increase in difference between the number of stitchesretained by the needles of the front bed and the number of stitchesretained by the needles of the back bed, so as to avoid occurrence ofyarn rupture and undesirable knitting lines. If two wale are increasedin each side of the neckline, then only the stitch 31 at the side endthereof may be fed to the back bed. The number of stitches to be fed tothe back bed depends on the number of wale to be increased in theneckline.

[0036] In the next steps 9-15, the same knitting as the widening knit inthe steps 2-8 provided for the left side of the front neckline 10 a fromthe center line X-X is provided for the right side of the neckline fromthe center line X/X. The step 15 shows the state of the stitches of theneckline being retained after the front neckline 10 a is widened. Thefront neckline 10 a is widened in knitting width, four wale at each sidethereof, and two stitches at each end of the front neckline are fed tothe outside of the back neckline 10 b on the back bed. As a result ofthe stitches 31; 32, and 41; 42 at each side end portion of the frontneckline 10 a being fed to the back needle bed in this manner, theneckline can be increased in diameter, while keeping the stitcheslocated at each side end portion of the front neckline in their retainedstate on the front and back needle beds, without being away from eachother to a large extent. The step 16 shows the step of forming thewidening stitches on the empty needles F, H, J, L, O, Q, S and Uinserted in between the stitches when the collars 8 a, 8 b are knitted.The step 17 shows the step of feeding the yarn to the back neckline 10b.

[0037] Referring now to FIGS. 8-11, description will be given on theknitting steps from FIG. 4(3) to FIG. 4(4) wherein the stitches on thelower oblique portions D-E, d-e are shifted toward the flat portion E-eand also the empty needles are inserted in the lower oblique portionsD-E, d-e, so as to increase the number of wale of the flat portion anddecrease the number of wale of the flat portion E-e. Following on theknitting leading up to FIG. 7, the knitting of FIGS. 8-11 is provided.In FIGS. 8-11, for convenience of explanation, the knitting at the rightside and the knitting at the left side of the center line X-X areillustrated separately. The marks (L) at the right-hand side of the stepnumbers indicate the knitting provided at the left side of the centerline X-X of the neckline 10 (at the right side when viewed from thewearer), and the marks (R) at the left-hand side of the step numbersindicate the knitting provided at the right side of the center line X-X(at the left side when viewed from the wearer). In the step in which theknitting is provided only in either of the right side and the left sideof the center line X-X, the knitting provided in the either side isillustrated. On the other hand, in the step in which the knitting isprovided in both of the right side and the left side, the knittingprovided in the right side and the knitting provided in the left sideare separately illustrated, as shown in the step 13. In the numberedsteps labeled (R) in FIGS. 8-11, the stitches of the upper obliqueportion c-d of the front neckline 10 a are retained at the left side ofthe front bed, and the stitches of right side of the center line X-X ofthe neckline 10 are retained at the right side of the front bed, thoughnot shown. The stitches of the back neckline 10 b and the stitches ofthe front neckline 10 a transferred to the back bed are retained on theback bed. In the numbered steps labeled (L), the stitches of left sideof the center line X-X of the neckline 10 are retained at the left sideof the front bed, and the stitches of the upper oblique portion C-D ofthe front neckline 10 a are retained at the right side of the front bed.The stitches of the back neckline 10 b and the stitches of the frontneckline 10 a transferred to the back bed are retained on the back bed.In the following, illustration is given, taking as an example the casewhere the stitches of the lower oblique portions D-E, d-e at the rightand left sides of the center line X-X are shifted to the flat portionE-e, so as to increase the four-wale in each of the lower obliqueportions D-E, d-e.

[0038] The step 1 of FIG. 8 shows the state of the stitches beingretained on the respective beds, which is presented when the knitting ofFIGS. 5-7 is completed. In the step 1, the stitches of the lower obliqueportion d-e are retained on the needles A-W of the front bed; thestitches of the flat portion e-E are retained on the needles X-i of thefront bed; and the stitches of J-j of the back neckline are retained onthe needles A-i of the back bed. In the step 2, the stitches on theneedles D-e of the front bed are transferred to the TR jack D-e of theTR jack bed. In the step 3, after the TR jack bed is racked rightwardsone stitch of distance, the stitches 41-44 on the TR jacks D-G and thestitches 45-47 of the TR jacks c-e are transferred to the front bed. Asa result of this, an empty needle is provided at the needle D of thefront bed and also a double stitch is formed at the needle f. In thestep 4, after the TR jack bed is further racked rightwards one stitch ofdistance from the state of the step 3, the stitches 48-51 on the TRjacks H-K and the stitches 52-54 on the TR jacks Z-b are transferred tothe front bed, whereby an empty needle is provided at the needle I ofthe front bed and also a double stitch is formed at the needle d. In thestep 5, after the TR jack bed is further racked rightwards one stitch ofdistance, the stitches 55-58 on the TR jacks L-O and the stitches 59-61on the TR jacks W-Y are transferred to the front bed, whereby an emptyneedle is provided at the needle N of the front bed and also a doublestitch is formed at the needle b. In the step 6 as well, after the TRjack bed is further racked rightwards one stitch of distance, thestitches 62-68 on the TR jacks P-V of the TR jack bed are transferred tothe front bed, whereby an empty needle is provided at the needle S ofthe front bed and also a double stitch is formed at the needle Z. As aresult of this, the empty needles D, I, N, S are provided in the loweroblique portions d-e of the front neckline 10 a and the doubles stitchesare formed at the needles Z, b, d, f.

[0039] From the step 7, the knitting goes on to the knitting at theright side of the center line X-X. In the step 7, the stitches of theflat portion e-E are retained on the needles A-L of the front bed; thestitches of the lower oblique portion E-D are retained on the needlesM-i of the front bed; and the stitches of the lower oblique portion E-Dof the back neckline 10 b are retained on the needles A-i of the backbed. In the steps 7-12, the same knitting as the knitting in the steps1-6 is performed symmetrically at the right side of the center line X-X,whereby double stitches are formed at the needles D, F, H, I of the flatportion e-E and also the empty needles are provided at the needles Q, V,a, f in the lower oblique portions E-D, as illustrated in the step 12.In the step 13(R), the yarn feeder is traveled rightwards from the rightend to the left end of the front neckline 10 a, so that new stitches areformed at the empty needles f, a, V, Q at the right side of the centerline X-X and stitches of the next course are formed on the doublestitches at the needles J, H, F, D. In the next step 13(L), stitches ofthe next course are formed on the double loops at the needles f, d, b, Zat the left side of the center line X-X and new stitches are formed atthe empty needles S, N, I, D. As a result of the knitting in the steps1-13 mentioned above, four wale is increased in each of the loweroblique portions D-E, d-e, and eight wale is decreased in total in theflat portion E-e at both sides of the center line X-X. In the knittingsubsequent to the step 13, the yarn is cyclically fed to the frontneckline 10 a and the back neckline 10 b to form the front neckline 8 aand the back neckline 8 b into a tubular form. Thereafter, the stitchesof the final course of the collar are subjected to a known bind-offprocess for preventing loosening of stitches and the like process andthen is slipped off from the needles. The knitting of the sweater 1 isended with this.

[0040] In the knitting processes mentioned above, after the total numberof wale of the neckline is increased in the knitting of FIGS. 5-7, thenumber of wale in the lower oblique portions D-E, d-e are increased andthe number of wale in the flat portion E-e is decreased in the knittingof FIGS. 8-11, so as to supplement the number of wale in the loweroblique portions D-E, d-e. When the collar is knitted next to theneckline thus knitted, the collar can be formed into an intended shapeto produce the knitwear with the collar comfortable to wear and stylishhaving the front drop having a sufficient length. While in theillustrated embodiment, the drop is formed in the front body 2 a only,the drop can be formed in the back body 2 b as well by providing thesame knitting for the back neckline lob. While in the illustratedembodiment, the knitting of the FIGS. 5-7 that while the stitchessituated at the outside of the front neckline 10 a are fed to the backbed, the empty needles are provided in the front neckline 10 a, so as toincrease the total number of wale of the neckline 10 is provided for theupper oblique portions C-D, c-d only, this knitting may also be providedfor the lower oblique portions D-E, d-e and the flat portion F-e.

[0041] The present invention is not limited to the illustratedembodiment. For example, even a general type of general-purpose two-bedflat knitting machine having no transfer jack or no slide needle can beused as the flat knitting machine used for the knitting of the presentinvention by using alternate needles, as previously mentioned. Likewise,the four-bed flat knitting machine may be used, in which the knitting ofthe present invention is afforded with every needle, without using theholding technique. Also, while in the illustrated embodiment, thewidening stitch is formed by the yarn being hooked by the empty needle,the widening stitch may be formed in another method, such as a splitknit.

[0042] Capabilities of Exploitation in Industry

[0043] According to the present invention, the front body and/or theback body of the collared knitwear is knitted from the hem to theshoulder, during which the flechage knitting that the front body isknitted so as to be forked into the right side and the left side fromthe starting point for the neckline to be formed and also the stitchesaround the neckline are sequentially removed from the knitting to be putinto inoperative states is repeated a predetermined number of times, soas to form the neckline. Also, the neckline is so formed that the waleis supplied from the flat portion to the oblique portions forsupplement, so that a ratio of the wale formed in the each portion ofthe collar is changed to a ratio suitable for an intended shape of thecollar, followed by the knitting of the collar. This can produce theknitwear with the collar comfortable to wear and stylish having the drophaving a sufficient length.

1. A method of knitting a neck portion of knitwear comprising a frontbody, a back body and a collar of the front body and/or a collar theback body by using a flat knitting machine comprising at least a pair offront and back needle beds, at least either of which can be rackedlaterally to transfer stitches between the needles beds, wherein theknitwear is knitted from its bottom hem to its shoulder, during which aflechage knitting that the body is knitted so as to be forked into aright side and a left side from a starting point for the neckline to beformed and also the stitches around the neckline are sequentiallyremoved from the knitting to be put into inoperative states is repeateda predetermined number of times, so as to form the neckline, followed bythe forming of the collar around the neckline, the method comprising thestep that the knitting that stitches of the neckline at right and leftsides thereof including its oblique portions and its flat portionsadjacent to the oblique portions are moved toward a center of theneckline, so that empty needles are provided in the oblique portions andalso double stitches are formed in the flat portions and, thereafter,new stitches are formed at the empty needles in the next knitting of thecollar and also stitches of the next course are formed at the doublestitches is provided in each of the right side of the neckline and theleft side of the neckline.
 2. The method of knitting the neck portion ofknitwear according to claim 1, wherein the knitwear knitted is a fabricwhose front body and back body are knitted in layers in front and backinto a tubular form and wherein the knitting that after the front bodyand the back body are joined together at the shoulder, the empty needlesare provided in the oblique portions of the neckline and also the doublestitches are formed in the flat portions and then the new stitches areformed at the empty needles in the next knitting of the collar and alsothe stitches of the next course are formed at the double stitches isprovided in the neckline.
 3. The method of knitting the neck portion ofknitwear according to claim 2, wherein while the stitches of theneckline retained on one of the needle beds are sequentially fed fromthe one located outside to an outside of the neckline retained on theopposite needle bed, the empty needles are provided therein to increasethe number of wale of the neckline.
 4. Knitwear, such as a vest or asweater, wherein a neckline is so knitted as to be forked into a rightside and a left side from a starting point for the neckline to be formedin the knitwear; a group of stitches in two adjacent regions at aboundary between a collar and the neckline are moved toward a center ofthe neckline to be close to each other; and a collar is formedcontinuously to new stitches formed in the space produced by themovement of the group of stitches and double stitches produced by themovement of the group of stitches.